20.05.2007
Sail-World.com America's Cup 2007Newsletter....
Welcome to Sail-World.Com's America's Cup newsletter for Day 5 of the Semi-Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup
BMW Oracle Racing team boss, Larry Ellison, previously owned a supemaxi yacht, Sayonara which was a top performer on the offshore racing circuit. Her name means 'farewell' or 'good bye' in Japanese.
She was Ellison's entree into the America's Cup, with many of the team that he now has in Valencia.
At this stage of the Louis Vuitton regatta, the name seems to be rather prophetic.
There is another piece of prophecy in Rowing, and most high performance sports, which says that Performance equals Potential minus Mistakes.
It follows that you can have a quick boat, but if there is significant operator error, then you may be no better than a slower boat, which is well sailed, making few mistakes.
That formula was certainly demonstrated today, in the pre-start of the match between BMW ORACLE Racing and Luna Rossa. It has also been an interesting measure of performance of all the teams during this event.
In the closing seconds of the pre-start, Chris Dickson was pushed over the startline at the pin end by James Spithill in Luna Rossa. Dickson rounded the pin end with 32 seconds to run on the start, ran flat, and then flicked onto port a little early, in my view.
Spithill on Luna Rossa realised that the US Challenger was the give way boat and was badly caught. He stayed on starboard and lined up USA-98. Dickson was left with only one option which was to luff and try to cut across the Italian bow.
He didn't have enough runway for this move and Spithill called for the penalty, and then called for the second penalty, when he realised that Dickson had managed to shoot through to leeward, and had gained from the first infringement.
Before the umpires could rule, Dickson made the decision for them, by quickly swinging his transom into Luna Rossa and incurring a second penalty, along with a red flag - meaning that one penalty had to be done immediately.
In spite of the two incidents, Dickson had gained sufficiently, to be ahead of Spithill as they cleared the startline. As the two boats started up the track, Dickson looked for a gap so he could start his immediate penalty, Spithill made his hard life even more difficult, with a slow luff followed by a blocking tack, forcing Dickson to tack back and then start his first 270 turn.
By the time they had settled down the margin was over 100 metres in favour of the Italian, and any hope of an Australia II style 3-1 comeback was virtually gone.
The seabreeze today was a light 6-10 knots with some variance in direction, but easing as the day wore on.
Sailing a boat that is at least of equal in speed to USA-98, the Italians made no mistakes, and eased away to a very comfortable win, gaining on every leg.
That puts the pre-series favourites down 4-1, which in spite of all the brave talk from the US challenger, will be very difficult to overcome.
Yes, such a comeback has been done before by Il Moro di Venezia against the tandem keeled, bowsprited NZL-20. However that margin was quickly turned into a 4-2 result after a Jury decision on the use of the bowsprit by the Kiwis. The Italians, led by Paul Cayard, were able to climb back into the game as the mistakes and crew changes flowed from the Kiwi camp.
USA-98 didn't improve on her leg win/loss record today, and has now only led at the end of just one of the last 24 legs sailed. Enough to give her the single race win of these Semi-Finals.
Emirates Team New Zealand put together a regulation win over Desafio Espanol, after getting a little shaken up at the start. NZL-92 suffered a little from a time on distance error and was forced into a low speed tack right under the Committee Boat. At the other end of the line. the Spanish quickly turned this into a 60 metre advantage, however the better Potential of the Kiwi boat and crew showed itself, as they began to lift and climb away from ESP-97.
Like Luna Rossa, in their trailing match, Emirates Team New Zealand continued to extend on every leg.
So it is all on to determine whether tomorrow will be the final day in the Semi-Finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
For Emirates Team New Zealand, it is surely a matter of staying out of trouble at the start, and then using their Potential to work out a vital fifth win over the Spanish.
BMW Oracle Racing have their backs firmly to the wall. They have to adopt similar tactics to the Kiwis at the start and then try to work the edges on the wind shifts and pressure to eke a much needed win.
All Dickson and his crew have to do is to extend the game for another day.
They have the Potential, it's the Mistakes that seem to be the problem.
Otherwise they will sadly, and very surprisingly, it will be 'Sayonara' for BMW Oracle Racing, as they exit the Louis Vuitton Cup after the next race.
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
Fisher's View: Match Point
The old master fell at the feet of the young pretender in the pre-start manoeuvres of the match between Luna Rossa and BMW Oracle Racing. Chris Dickson, three times a match-racing world champion, fell before the sword of James Spithill, the youngest skipper in this competition....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33853&ntid=58
Emirates Team New Zealand 4-1 up against Spain
NZL 92 established control of its race against ESP 97 early on the first beat and extended all the way top the mark. USA 97 incurred two penalties in the pre-start and ITA 94 went on to sail a flawless race. NZL 92 needs to win one more race to win the semi-final and go to the final....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33836&ntid=58
BMW ORACLE Racing down but not out
A double penalty in the pre-start cost BMW ORACLE Racing dearly. The pre-start incidents meant the race was won and lost at the start and Luna Rossa Challenge protected their lead all the way round the track....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33838&ntid=58
Luna Rossa Cuptoon: The tail of Moby Dicko
Mark O'Brien who was a feature of the Louis Vuitton and America's Cups in Auckland, with his Monsta series, is in Valencia as part of the Luna Rossa team. We will be presenting Mark's latest Cup carton when available, either as a separate feature of as part of the Luna Rossa story of the day....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33843&ntid=58
From the Blogs: - Mark Chisnell: SOCK... KER-POW... KERRRUNCH
It was the most extraordinary pre-start we've yet seen in this Louis Vuitton. Oracle took two penalties, getting a red flag with the second - which meant it had to be done immediately. They started a hundred metres behind, with the second penalty still to unwind. The boys in white wriggled and worked, but Luna Rossa never looked like they were going to let them get back into it....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33850&ntid=58
Quotes Of The Day: Semi Finals Race Day Five
'We felt the committee boat would be favoured by 7 or 8 degrees.The advantage was initially to the Spanish but we continued to make gains out to the left hand side with the little flicks of right hand pressure. We fought hard for the right hand side and fortunately it paid off.' Ray Davies, Strategist, Emirates Team New Zealand...
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33842&ntid=58
From the Blogs: SailJuice - Stirring Stuff from Wachowicz
It's not often that a sailor will get applause out of an audience as cynical as a bunch of sailing journalists, but Matt Wachowicz managed it at last night's press conference. The American navigator on Desafio Espanol 2007 said spirits had never been higher in the Spanish team, even if they were 1-3 down against the Kiwis....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33847&ntid=58
Luna Rossa Cuptoon: Separation Anxiety in the Media Centre
Mark O'Brien who was a feature of the Louis Vuitton and America's Cups in Auckland, with his Monsta series, is in Valencia as part of the Luna Rossa team. We will be presenting Mark's latest Cup carton when available, either as a separate feature of as part of the Luna Rossa story of the day....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33845&ntid=58
From the Blogs: SailJuice - One last sting in the Scorpion's tail?
A month or so ago, we media types were talking about how there was not one - but two places up for grabs in the Semi Finals, such was the perceived weakness of Luna Rossa at the time. Word on the street was that the Italians were struggling in pre-Act 13 training against the likes of Areva Challenge. The question was which of the 2nd tier teams would be joining the dead certs - BMW Oracle and New Zealand - as the other two teams in the Semis....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33846&ntid=58
Timing Sheets and Race Summaries: Semi-Final Race
Luna Rossa Challenge's James Spithill was powerful during the pre-start, throwing two penalties onto BMW ORACLE Racing and skipper Chris Dickson. The American team had been in danger of being shut out on the left side of the starting line, and Dickson, on the 'give-way' port tack, attempted to cross ahead of the starboard tack Luna Rossa Challenge....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33852&ntid=58
Luna Rossa Challenge up 4-1 over BMW Oracle Racing
Aussie James Spithill pushes Kiwi Chris Dickson into a dial-up. Slowly drifting towards the right Luna Rossa manages to start squeezing BMW Oracle beyond the line. Luna Rossa wins the fifth race with a 1 minute and 57 second final delta, leading the series 4-1....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33840&ntid=58
From the Blogs: Tack by Tack - Mark Chisnell
15.04: I've never seen Jimmy so vocal or adamant about those penalties, he had Dickson absolutely dead, on the ropes, pounded and bloodied and he knew it... Somehow they both eventually got over the start line, Oracle did their penalty, and Luna Rossa now lead away, both boats on starboard, Luna Rossa to leeward... Never seen anything quite like that, never mind had to describe it.......
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33848&ntid=58
Desafio Espanol down to experienced NZ Team
Desafio Espanol 2007 had a hard fight in the pre-start against the Emirates Team New Zealand but in the end, the experience of the winners of two America's Cups was too much for ESP-97....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33839&ntid=58
BMW ORACLE Racing and Desafio Espanol 2007 down to final chance
BMW ORACLE Racing and Desafio Espanol must win their next four races if they hope to advance to the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup. That's the grim reality facing both teams after they lost their matches on Saturday on the waters off Valencia, in front of an enormous weekend spectator fleet...
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33834&ntid=58
Bob Fisher's - An Absorbing Interest
The Definitive History of the America's Cup from 1851 to 2003, written by Bob Fisher. Its two volumes covers the drama, boat design, personalities and sheer fascination of the America's Cup....
http://www.sail-world.com/newstext/pda.cfm?Nid=33691&ntid=58
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